Site Mobile Navigation

Diplomacy Buffs Image Of Cardinal In Austria

It is impolitic for Catholics to speculate too openly about who could be the man to succeed Pope John Paul II. But as the 78-year-old Pope's health declines, Vatican watchers cannot resist studying the roster of cardinals for the few who could be tapped.

And one of the names frequently mentioned these days as ''papabile'' -- (pah-PAH-bee-lay), ''possibly a pope'' -- is that of Christoph Cardinal Schonborn, the 53-year-old leader of the deeply divided Austrian Catholic Church.

The rift drove the Pope to travel to Austria on a pastoral mission, his third visit here. And while the Pope set about trying to address the problems of his Austrian flock, his three-day visit gave his Vatican entourage -- and the Vatican press corps -- a closer look at the man directly in charge of solving them.

Cardinal Schonborn, like the Pope, is a staunch conservative on doctrinal matters, but he has handled a deep scandal with deft diplomacy. In a news conference on Friday, the Cardinal effortlessly charmed an often cynical press corps from Rome by calmly answering questions about the battles within the church in four languages. (He speaks six.)

Asked to give his own views on one issue bedeviling Austrian Catholics -- whether laymen should be allowed to say Mass -- the Cardinal launched into an extended metaphor borrowed from St. Paul about how believers are part of the same body, equally important but not interchangeable.

''Each of the members is important,'' he said, ''so the importance is to know, What is my role in the body, that is to say, the church?'' Then he stopped and asked with a smile, ''Is that too pious?''

Before the Pope's arrival, Cardinal Schonborn moved boldly to put to rest a sex scandal that bred mass defections in an already embattled church. His predecessor, Hans Hermann Cardinal Groer, was forced to resign in 1995 after allegations surfaced that he had molested seminarians 20 years earlier. Cardinal Groer, a conservative who was appointed by the Pope in 1986, left office without admitting any wrongdoing.

When a priest reopened the scandal with fresh charges this January, another conservative Austrian bishop dismissed the priest, unleashing another round of in-fighting.

An error has occurred. Please try again later.

You are already subscribed to this email.

To smooth a path for the Pope's visit, Cardinal Schonborn took the extraordinary step in April of announcing that the allegations about Cardinal Groer were true and apologizing for his predecessor's actions. (Cardinal Groer, who retains his title but none of his responsibilities, was sent to a monastery abroad while the Pope was in Austria.)

Cardinal Schonborn may have disappointed some of Austria's more conservative bishops but he won some credit with many of the leadership's critics within the church.

He preaches the need for dialogue, but he is not seen as someone who supports the growing movement for democratization. ''He is a very friendly man who listens to the people,'' said Paul Weitzer, a member of a dissident Catholic lay group, ''but he moves not a millimeter from his theological point.''

Cardinal Schonborn, a former theology professor who comes from a wealthy, noble family, has already won the Vatican's trust. He was assigned delicate diplomatic negotiations with the Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow, and with other faiths. And in a clear signal of papal favor, he was invited to preach at the Pope's Lenten retreat in 1996.

His youth, more than anything else, is cited as an obstacle to being elected Pope. Pope John Paul II has ruled for 20 years, and there is the broad suspicion that in the next conclave, the cardinals will choose an older successor likely to have a briefer reign.

Another test awaits Cardinal Schonborn in October, when a special conference of 300 lay Catholics and clergymen is to vote on such contested issues as priestly celibacy and the ordination of women. The conference is likely to support positions that the Pope has long opposed; though it cannot act without Rome's approval, its stance will be an important gauge of disaffection in the Austrian church.

''It is possible,'' Cardinal Schonborn replied when asked if the conference would vote in favor of allowing priests to marry. ''But the most important question is, How do we live with these opinions and desires?'' he said. ''We are in the Catholic Church, which has taken a certain path. We will not chose a separate path for Austria, so how do we live today the situation of a Catholic Church of Austria that is part of the universal church?''